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A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Tuesday, January 26, 2016
EPF and ETF: Should or shouldn’t they be merged into a separate institution?
Trade unions up in arms against the proposed merger of EPF and ETF
In a recent live television discussion on ITN, the President of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union, also known as CBEU, made a very strong case against the proposed merger of the Employees Provident Fund or EPF and Employees Trust Fund or ETF into a separate board and taking EPF fund management away from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (available at: http://www.itn.lk/2016/01/19/kawuda-eththa-kiyanne-2016-01-19/).
The proposal to merge them had been made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Economic Policy Statement or EPS delivered in Parliament last year. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake reconfirmed the Government’s wish to do so in Budget 2016 presented to Parliament two weeks later, promising to consult trade unions before doing so.
The rationale not explained
The rationale for making such merger had not been presented either in the EPS or Budget 2016 leaving all those who have an interest in these two funds in the dark completely. Nor was there any subsequent communication from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Finance enlightening the public of the reasons for the proposed merger and taking EPF away from the Central Bank.
Sans vital information, it is quite natural for trade unions to suspect the whole move as yet another instance of some unsavoury hand working to rob the moneys belonging to the working people of the country. Hence, all trade unions have been up in arms against the proposed merger.
There was the Government Medical Officers’ Association or GMOA which did not have direct interest in EPF or ETF but still protested against the proposed merger in an apparent expression of solidarity with the other trade unions in the country. The CBEU, according to its President who appeared on TV, was against the proposed merger because all its members were contributors to the ETF and some members to EPF as well. Hence, to protect the interests of its members, the CBEU was against the proposed merger and would do everything possible in collaboration with other trade unions to stop the Government’s move.
- See more
Monday, 25 January 2016
In a recent live television discussion on ITN, the President of the Ceylon Bank Employees Union, also known as CBEU, made a very strong case against the proposed merger of the Employees Provident Fund or EPF and Employees Trust Fund or ETF into a separate board and taking EPF fund management away from the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (available at: http://www.itn.lk/2016/01/19/kawuda-eththa-kiyanne-2016-01-19/).
The proposal to merge them had been made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the Economic Policy Statement or EPS delivered in Parliament last year. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake reconfirmed the Government’s wish to do so in Budget 2016 presented to Parliament two weeks later, promising to consult trade unions before doing so.
The rationale not explained
The rationale for making such merger had not been presented either in the EPS or Budget 2016 leaving all those who have an interest in these two funds in the dark completely. Nor was there any subsequent communication from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Finance enlightening the public of the reasons for the proposed merger and taking EPF away from the Central Bank.
Sans vital information, it is quite natural for trade unions to suspect the whole move as yet another instance of some unsavoury hand working to rob the moneys belonging to the working people of the country. Hence, all trade unions have been up in arms against the proposed merger.
There was the Government Medical Officers’ Association or GMOA which did not have direct interest in EPF or ETF but still protested against the proposed merger in an apparent expression of solidarity with the other trade unions in the country. The CBEU, according to its President who appeared on TV, was against the proposed merger because all its members were contributors to the ETF and some members to EPF as well. Hence, to protect the interests of its members, the CBEU was against the proposed merger and would do everything possible in collaboration with other trade unions to stop the Government’s move.
- See more
